How do you go about arranging private talking therapy for a teen?

[QuestionsAboutDS]

DS (15) is having a tough time emotionally dealing with the stress of GCSEs and life as an autistic teen. His older sibling, who benefited from CAHMS counselling, thinks that therapy would be a good idea. We have the money to go private, and I think that we probably should do that, but I don’t really know where to start. What do I do? Do we start with the GP anyway or go direct? (We’re in London so presumably there’s a lot of choice).

Thanks in advance.

Look on Bacp website.

Look on the BACP website, there are therapists who specialise in young people arranged by locality.

Google child and adolescent psychotherapists and you will get their prof association site . You can search for someone in private practice by area

Thanks all. I literally had no idea where to start, having previously done the GP/CAHMS route.

Is there anything else I should know?

You need someone with experience of working with teens with autism.

Also - is your ds on board with the idea? It really isn't possible to make someone engage with therapy if they don't want to.

If your DS is on board with the idea but doesn't like the first therapist, see a different one. The quality of the relationship between client and therapist is the single strongest predictor of success.

These people are great: therapeuticconsultants.co.uk

Yes DS is keen.

I went through Priory to access private counselling for my teen. It's expensive but being under the umbrella of a larger organisation has paid dividends. She sees a consultant every so often and her counsellor weekly. The consultant decided which counsellor was the most appropriate after assessing dd. Her treatment also involves medication which our GP (rightly) was very reluctant to prescribe without consultant input. So this is reviewed and adjusted by Priory as necessary (although the GP surgery now issues the scripts).
DD is now over 18 so in theory her treatment is nothing to do with me, but with her agreement her counsellor will talk to me. So it has helped me too, knowing that I have a bit of a safety net too if something is going on that worries me.
(I work an extra shift a week to pay for it, but don't tell dd that, she thinks we are just short handed at work.)